Idera Pharmaceuticals sells licenses to Merck

Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge signed a drug-development deal with Merck & Co. in which the New Jersey drug giant will pay $20 million cash and buy $10 million in stock for the rights to use Idera's immune-boosting technology in potential Merck vaccines. If the vaccines succeed, the deal could be worth up to $425 million in additional milestone payments. Idera, a 16-year-old company that changed its name from Hybridon Inc. last year, will use the money to develop drugs for cancer and other diseases. (Stephen Heuser)

Biogen Idec Inc.'s experimental drug lumiliximab, combined with its Rituxan cancer medication and chemotherapy, helped almost half of patients achieve remission for a slow-growing form of leukemia in a small study. Based on results from the 31-patient trial, Biogen Idec is starting a larger study intended to support US approval, the Cambridge company said. The study tested lumiliximab in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The findings suggest that adding lumiliximab to Rituxan and chemotherapy can bolster remission rates without more side effects, said David Parkinson, Biogen's senior vice president of oncology research. (Bloomberg)

Genzyme Corp. and Schering AG's Berlex Inc. said an advanced study of Campath in previously untreated leukemia patients showed it was superior to a standard treatment. The study compared the drug with GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Leukeran and found that Campath reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 42 percent, Genzyme said. Campath, which treats chronic lymphocytic leukemia, offered a nearly 30 percent overall response rate, and a 12-fold increase in complete response rates, when compared with Leukeran, the company said. (Bloomberg)

Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, and Paul Tudor Jones, a billionaire hedge fund manager, are joining other investors to back cable TV programming for resort communities. The two are part of an effort by Thomas Scott, the cofounder of the Nantucket Nectars juice company, to raise $20 million for Plum TV LLC, which provides local programming in Massachusetts beach communities Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard and the Colorado ski resorts Vail, Aspen, and Telluride, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing didn't disclose the amounts committed by Kraft and the Raptor fund. Kraft didn't return phone calls or e-mails. (Bloomberg)

Power Financial Corp. has made the final round of bidders for Boston-based money manager Putnam Investments, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported, citing unnamed investment banking sources. The paper said Power Financial, a Montreal-based investment conglomerate, was closing in on a $3.5 billion-plus acquisition of Putnam, which would give it a foothold in the US mutual fund industry. Power Financial owns Canada's largest mutual fund manager, IGM Financial. "We don't comment on rumors," said Edward Johnson, senior vice president and general counsel of Power Financial. (Reuters)

The US Special Operations Command said it awarded a contract worth up to $164.2 million to a Raytheon Co. unit. McKinney, Texas-based Raytheon Co. Precision Attack and Surveillance Systems will provide system design and development for the Silent Knight Radar. Special Operations provides training and support to foreign military services. (AP)

The Netherlands ended transmission of "free to air" analog television, becoming the first nation to switch completely to digital signals. Few Dutch consumers noticed, because the overwhelming majority get TV via cable. Only around 74,000 households relied primarily on the old-fashioned TV antennas in the country of 16 million, although 220,000 people had an "occasional use" set somewhere such as in a vacation house, camper, or boat, according to government figures. (AP)